Just Three Days
by TeaThe42
Summary: Rose is tired and in need of a holiday. She makes a deal with the Doctor: they'll go wherever the TARDIS takes them and spend three days there without saving anyone. But those three days turn out to be a lot longer than they anticipated.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note**: Well, here we go. My first story. I know it's kinda short and not very good but, hey, I'm trying! For now this is rated K but, let's face it, it's Rose and Ten on holidays, things aren't gonna stay K for long. Anyway, my whole fanfiction career depends on how you guys like this, so please review :) Also, as I said, it's my first fanfiction, so be gentle. And English is not my first language and I'm really sorry for all the mistakes (I'm sure there's lots of them).

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the characters (I wish!)

They weren't far behind her. Their faces were angry grimaces and their skin was yellowishly orange - the kind of colour you couldn't associate with any good thing. But Rose didn't really care. She's seen weirder. She's seen so many aliens and monsters, she could hardly recall their faces and in good time, she'll forget the faces of Levonians chasing after her.

She admired the Doctor and his determination to understand every being and save those who deserved it. Not for a minute has she ever doubted Doctor's good intentions. But for Rose it was too much. Caring about what's right and what's not, who lives and who doesn't. She cared about humans, for sure, and the Doctor, and she used to care, at the beginning, while he... He's been looking after the universe for centuries, throughout all of time and space. Then again, he didn't have anyone of his own to care about.

Sadness overwhelmed her for a short second, but she didn't stop. Because he's told her to run, not just once. She knew the plan. Attract Levonians' attention, then run towards the left wing of the hospital, through the IC room labelled "Intensive 12" and onto the balcony, then close the doors behind you. The Doctor will hide around the corner, run after the Levonians and close the doors behind them. After you see the doors closed, jump from one balcony to the next one and come back inside. Easy enough plan.

"Intensive 12" was right around the corner. And - inside! Rose's heart was pumping. She felt the adrenalin kicking in. Right in time. She was gonna need it if she wanted to make that jump. Onto the balcony and close those doors. Levonians were all in the room and the doors behind them closed too. Rose could see the Doctor through the glass door of the balcony and a small window in Doctor's doors. She waved at him, but he was too busy deadlocking the door with his sonic to notice. She looked around. The next balcony was about half a meter away, but underneath was a three-story fall. Gulping, she climbed onto the rail of the balcony she was on. She thought about closing her eyes, but decided against it. Looking directly in front of her, she jumped. Her hands grabbed the rail, but her feet missed their landing and fell numbly downwards. She felt nine years of gymnastics take over her. Ungracefully she crumbled up onto the balcony, only to be greeted by Doctor's amused face.

Angrily she asked him: "How long have you been standing there?"

The Doctor smiled: "Oh, long enough." His voice was taunting.

He knew what she was going to ask, but she asked anyway. "And you didn't think I might need some help?"

The corners of his mouth turned up even more. It was close to a grin. "Nah, you had it under control."

Rose sighed. As much as the Doctor annoyed her, she's grown fond of his teasing. "So, what about the Levonians?" she asked.

The Doctor's face suddenly fell. He wasn't sad, he was still cheerful even, but he had what Rose called "a doctory face". He always wore this face when the matters were about his "job".

"I contacted the Shadow Proclamation. They're coming to get them home."

Rose looked at him with wide eyes. "But aren't they dangerous?"

He looked back at her like a teacher, proud of his students for asking the right question. "Oh no, the Levonians are actually really nice and non-violent creatures. They're only acting like that because they're rabid. They've been infected by common cold. Well, it's common for you, but deadly for them. They need to be vaccinated. Unfortunately, you don't have common cold vaccines. I mean, why would you? Well, there's a thousand reasons why, but anyway..."

There it was. His speech, a speech he made every time he explained something timelordy. His voice was smooth, full of "oh's" and "well's", serious enough to make her listen and relaxed enough to reassure her. With his explanations, she filled her mind encyclopaedia of the universe.

Name: Levinians

Status: alien

Home planet: ask the Doctor

Relations: friendly (except if they're infected by common cold)

Precaution: don't sneeze in their proximity

And there was a picture of enraged orange creatures. On the last "well" the Doctor walked out of the room, naturally assuming she'd follow. She did.

DW###DW###

Back in the TARDIS Rose sat down on one of the sits while the Doctor fiddled with the controls. She never knew what he was doing exactly, though he's explained it to her several times. After an ungracefully graceful turn, he was facing her.

"So, having fun yet?" he asked, this time grinning wide. It was obvious he was. Rose couldn't understand the kick he got every time he saved someone. She felt it too, the first few times. The rush of energy, the thankful looks of those they saved, the general feel-good mood of doing the right thing and the relieve when it was all over. Except it wasn't. Rose never thought she'd grow tired of travelling with the Doctor. And she hasn't really. But she was tired, she had to admit that. She needed a vacation.

"What's wrong?" asked the Doctor then. He's been with Rose long enough to know, when something was wrong and when she was just moody. Which was often. He crouched to look her in the eyes.

"The Levonians are gonna be fine. The Shadow Proclamation was made for this exact reason. To bring law to the Universe and help those who need help. Well, mostly. They have their flaws, but then who doesn't." Rose saw that about half way through the Doctor's figured that this wasn't the problem but continued anyway, because that's what he was like. More knowledge couldn't hurt.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor quarried again, real concern in his voice.

"It's nothing, just..." She didn't know how to tell him she wants to stop. They've always been running and it was all he's ever known. She wanted to stop but not without him.

"It's not nothing, it's not just, there's something on your mind and I need you to tell me." His voice was compelling, too compelling for Rose to handle. She wondered if that came with being a timelord or was it just the Doctor.

"I was just thinking that... maybe... maybe it's time for a break." she mumbled. It wasn't like her to mumble.

The Doctor stood up now, visibly happy that the problem is solved: "Well, you should've just said so. Well, sooner." He started pressing buttons and pulling levers again. Without even realizing it, Rose stood up and put her hand on his arm.

"No," she said quietly. "I meant **we** should take a break. Together. Away from the monsters and chases and dangers. Like a vacation."

She was thinking about taking a step back. She was afraid of the Doctor's reaction. He was an alien after all and she's just asked him to deny himself. He was a healer and doctors never took days off. His face, however, remained motionless. He was dwelling on the idea. After what seemed like minutes he made an uncertain gesture.

"You mean like a honeymoon?" Rose's face blushed bright red, her heartbeat jumped, when the thought of a honeymoon with the Doctor involuntarily flashed through her mind. The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed completely undisturbed. He was focusing all his attention on controlling the TARDIS, probably to stop her.

Isn't that how you call holydays for two?" he continued, when Rose didn't answer.

"No, I mean yes, but no, not like a honeymoon," she answered smiling. The Doctor seemed to have put this behind them.

"So, where and when do you have in mind?" he asked abruptly. Rose just stared at him. She hadn't expected him to jump on the idea so quickly. And she'd just realised she didn't really know what she wanted. The Doctor looked content; it wasn't easy to take Rose by surprise.

After a minute of thinking she shook her head: "Anywhere, any when, just three days, no psychic paper, no sonic screwdriver, no daleks, no cybermen, no paradoxes, no saving the universe, just you and me. Deal?"

She was afraid it all sounded to bossy and intimate, but the Doctor just grinned wildly and nodded: "Deal!" There was this spark in his eyes, almost as if spending three days without danger and monsters were the biggest adventure of his life.

"Setting the coordinates for anywhere anytime!" he exclaimed turning back to the controls.

"Allons-y!"

DW##DW##

Anywhere turned out to be a distant planet of Galloris and the time - early morning at the dawn of the high civilisation of Gallor.

Rose stepped out of the TARDIS first, the Doctor right behind her. She was too stunned to speak, but she heard the Doctor: "Galloris! Back before emperor Pishche, before the glory days! Rose, this is historic!"

All around her some kind of clay towers rose with big treelike branches and circular openings that could be windows. Indeed, faces appeared in the openings, reddish faces that resembled the colour of clay perfectly. Some of the creatures started climbing out of their windows, making Rose yelp. They were fast, like monkeys or squirrels, but they didn't approach her and the Doctor. They stopped a few feet away, looking at the couple curiously and a little scared.

"Doctor, where are we?" asked Rose. She was confused. She's expected a city with hotels, shops and civilized humanoids. Now she's found herself in an artificial forest full of squirrel-like monkeys.

"This is Galloris, home of the Great civilization of Gallor." Rose kept looking at the aliens and they kept staring back.

"What civilization?" she asked then, fearing she knew the answer.

"You're looking at it," answered the Doctor. "Of course this is only the beginning. Think of it as their Ancient Rome. Well, Egypt more likely. But by the 21th century they are one of the most advanced civilizations in the whole universe. Certainly more advanced than humans, no offence. But don't worry they're extremely peaceful, had only three galactic wars in fifteen thousand years they have contact with other species." explained the Doctor.

"But there's one more thing you should know." He looked up at the sky and the huge brightly yellow sun. "One Gallorian day lasts three Earthly months. «


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Author's note**: I know it took me far to long to upload this. I promise to get better at this. Anyway, here you go!

"We bigger hole need," observed the Gallorian, who's taken them to see their "apartment". He hopped away, his furry tail flapping behind him.

"Doctor, why are they talking like that?" asked Rose. She had so many questions but decided to start with less personal matters.

"Oh, it's just the TARDIS. She's picking up Gallorian, but languages change. This is archaic Gallorian and she's translating standard Gallorian. Give her some time, she'll pick it up, she always does." Doctor was leaning against one of the tree-like complexes. He has managed to get them a ground floor apartment but the hole obviously wasn't big enough for them to easily enter.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Rose. She still couldn't get over the fact that she was stuck on planet Apesquirrel for nine months. If she gets pregnant today she might still give birth before leaving.

The Doctor shrugged: "Whatever you want." After a long pause he continued: "You know we're gonna need to work, right? They may give us a rent-free apartment, but in return they expect us to work. Give the community back everything it offers us. That's how Gallorians earn."

Rose figured out as much. Every Gallorian had its profession; she's seen farmers on the fields behind the trees, growing some weird crops of different colours; she's seen merchants selling those crops and sky blue meat. She had to admit, the idea of harvesting fire red corn didn't really appeal to her. Nonetheless, she couldn't ask the Doctor to take her back; she was the one who wanted to come here in the first place.

"So, how do we get a job?" she asked, just to ease the tension.

"No idea. For all we know it is chosen by the chief," answered Doctor, his attention already on the Gallorian coming their way. He was holding a circular metal device, that looked too heavy for a creature his size, but he didn't seem to have any problem carrying it. Approaching the twosome, he gestured them to stand aside, then he placed the device in the middle of the opening and pressed a button. The metal circle swished outwards and started to carve the window bigger. Miniature clay chips rained around them until the window had been big enough Rose could almost get in without ducking. The Gallorian moved away from the window. Rose exchanged an excited look with the Doctor and together they climbed in.

The apartment was one big round room, lit by bright yellow flames that burned on some kind of torches. There was a large rectangular rock that looked like a table and two sitting devices made from an unknown material. And in the middle of a room was a rectangular piece of foam-like material that seemed soft enough to be a bed. By ancient standards it was probably a beautiful flat for one person. Or a couple.

The Doctor, once again, had been completely oblivious, walking straight to one of the torches and examining it with a big smile. "Oh, look at this! Living wood! There are these microscopic creatures that feed on ashes and produce wood. It's fire that never burns out! Now this is torchwood!" he said to no one in particular.

As interesting as eternal flame sounded, Rose needed to establish some ground rules first. "Doctor, there's only one bed," she simply said, hoping it was enough for him to get the clue.

Turning around, he snapped out of his fascination over the ever burning torch and looked around the room like he's only just realized they were one bed short. "Oh, that's not a problem. You can have the bed if you don't want to share. I barely sleep at all."

With that the problem was deemed solved from Doctor's perspective. Rose was unsure of how she felt about the Doctor even proposing they share a bed, but she let it be. Truth be told, she probably wouldn't mind but it somehow just didn't feel right.

A ruff voice woke her from her thoughts: "You anything need, you ask." It was the Gallorian who enlarged their entrance. Apparently he followed them inside.

The Doctor nodded and noted: "I didn't seem to catch your name."

The Gallorian didn't respond, so the Doctor decided for a more direct approach: "Your name what is?"

The Gallorian looked confused, but then he answered: "Kocha."

He's already turned to walk away, when the Doctor called after him: "Hey, Mister Kocha, could you tell your chief we requested to see him?" Without answering the Gallorian climbed out of the tree.

The Doctor sat himself happily into one of the chairs and somehow managed to look busy doing nothing. He seemed completely domestic in a foreign chair, maybe because he didn't really have a home. Rose, on the other hand, sat on a bed as if it weren't her own, the way you sit when you go to your friend's house and only their patents are home. It could have to do with the huge hole in the wall that was supposed to be their door.

The chief clearly hadn't had anything important to do. He was in their tree in less than three minutes, Earth time. "Oh, hello!" exclaimed the Doctor, when a red ape head appeared in the frame of their window.

"You welcome are," greeted the chief politely. He seemed nicer than Kocha.

"You work must," he continued then. Rose didn't like him that much anymore. She sighed.

"What do you have in mind?" asked the Doctor curiously. He seemed to be entirely on board with the idea.

"I work choose," answered the chief boldly. Rose was beginning to fear her fate. God knows what dirty work they demanded from immigrants. The Doctor, again completely unperturbed, just stared at the chief, waiting for him to continue. Seriously, not much could throw him off.

"So, what do we have to do?" asked Rose. She just wanted to get it over with. The chief, however, obviously chose to ignore her.

"You doctor be?" he asked the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled. "That's correct! Well, I'm more of a teacher though, technically speaking," he answered.

The chief nodded and repeated: "You doctor be." It took Rose a while to figure that the Doctor just got a job.

"You Rose be?" the chief averted his attention to her.

She nodded: "Yes." She didn't know how that piece of information was in any way relevant for the conversation they were having.

"You farmer be," declared the chief and Rose could swear that she caught a glimpse of a sly smile. She felt irrational rage overwhelming her. She hadn't come to this stinking planet to grow red corn. She came here to relax, to have fun.

The Doctor must have sensed it, because he answered instead of her: "Good! When do we start?" The chief smiled: "In half an hour." Rose thought she hadn't understood correctly. Half an hour? That was like - now. She liked this planet less and less.

The Doctor turned to her then: "Don't worry. Half an hour on this planet means roughly a day on Earth. We don't start until tomorrow."

Rose let herself breathe again. "Everything good is?" asked the chief, sensing some misunderstanding must have happened.

Rose and Doctor nodded simultaneously.

"You both fifty sots be paid will. Good you work, good we pay." The Doctor nodded. The deal seemed fair, though fifty sots wasn't that much. It'll have to work.

"I Kocha send will. He you work show," the chief finished, rendering the matter closed. He sauntered off then, leaving Rose and the Doctor alone.

DW##DW##

Rose had been staring out the window for an hour then. She couldn't sleep. Outside the sun was shining in bright yellow, bathing the world in late morning warmth. It must have been nice out there, but in Rose's desperate search for sleep it couldn't have been more annoying. The first thing she'll have to do tomorrow (in a few minutes?) is find some cloth or something to cover the entrance. From time to time she could also see some Gallorians pass by. They didn't look inside, but the fact that they could made Rose uncomfortable.

She turned around, so she was no longer facing the window. The Doctor was sitting in a chair, seeming utterly peaceful with his eyes closed and his facial muscles relaxed, but Rose knew he wasn't sleeping, as he's told her to 'quit staring' when she was facing him before.

Sensing Rose was watching, the Doctor opened his eyes too. His gaze locked with Rose's and they engaged in a silent conversation.

"I can't sleep," said Rose's eyes, exasperation shining through them as if she were trying to set the world ablaze.

"I understand," answered the Doctor's eyes full of empathy.

Suddenly he sat up and approached the entrance. Rose followed him with her eyes as he lingered there for a few moments. He looked at her again, his mind lost in deep thought. She smiled at the sight and watched in surprise as he suddenly took of his jacket. Realising there's nothing to hold the jacket up, the Doctor stretched out his arms, holding the jacket so it covered most of the entrance. It helped a lot. The apartment fell darker at once, but Rose couldn't let him just stand there.

"You don't have to do that," she said, her voice husky from long silence. She coughed to clear her throat and added: "Go back to sleep."

The Doctor gave her a sad smile and objected: "I wasn't sleeping. And I don't need to, really. But you do. Just close your eyes."

His smooth and completely rested voice made Rose shiver. She obeyed and closed her eyes, a ghostly image of Doctor's outstretched Jesus-like pose printing itself on the back of her mind.

Essentially she got a few hours of sleep, waking up the next day unrested but ready. The Doctor was sitting back in his chair, silently staring at her. Not in a creepy, stalking way, it was a look that a mother would give a sleeping child. It made Rose smile.

"Come on, we have to get ready!" exclaimed the Doctor and sprang out of his chair. Gracefully, as if he hadn't just spent hours in an uncomfortable chair, he walked over to the window and gazed outside giving Rose some privacy to get herself together.

She fell back on her cushions or whatever the foam under her head was. You would've thought that with years of waking up you get used to it, but no, leaving the comfort of a bed and a blanket is never easy. Defying all her instincts she scrambled out of the bed and corrected her tracksuit that was hanging sidewise across her body, leaving one shoulder bare. Her head was still spinning and she was starving but this wasn't her first sleepless night, to be honest.

"He's coming," warned the Doctor quietly and moved away from the window.

Indeed, behind him Kocha climbed inside with a stern look on his red face: "We work go!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

**Author's note: **Yes, I know I haven't updated in some months now. I just couldn't write. I've rewritten this chapter a few times and I still hate it. And I've been thinking a bit where to go with the story. I may go back and rewrite this chapter some day if I get more inspiration, but for now I'll just leave it be.

A group of Gallorian farmers was already scattered across the fields when Rose and the Doctor left their cosy home. "Don't they ever take a break?" asked Rose.

She remembered the farmers she'd seen on the fields yesterday. Were they really working here the whole time? The Doctor somehow knew the answer; Rose had actually stopped wondering why he knows all this trivial things about completely random species. She accepted it as another great mystery of being a 900 years old alien.

"Gallorians can stay awake for large periods of time, but their body has to rest, so they have this kind of working groups. Their day consists of 24 approximately 30-hour periods called "kass" which would mean something like an "hour". Hours divide into five six-hour periods called "muja" which roughly translates to "works". Every citizen must work for one work an hour, which is equal to about five hours a day on Earth. Well, you also have to do half a work of personal service to either the chieftain or the high priest. Both, the Royal Court and the Cult of Kokla, the Mother Godess, depend entirely on obligatory citizen service. The rest of an hour you're free to do anything you want. We have obviously been sent to work in the second muja."

The Doctor took his monologue up to the long and narrow building next to the fields. Kocha stopped so abruptly, Rose almost crashed into him.

"You here eat," he explained, pointing towards the building. "Before you work begin and after you work finish. Other food you buy," he added. Rose and the Doctor nodded simultaneously. It was all starting to clear up for Rose. This wasn't so bad. She had plenty of food, a steady job and a friend by her side, which is more then she could say about her pre-Doctor life.

"You work start. I you pick up come," Kocha ordered, staring directly into Rose. She nodded and started towards the dining-hall-slash-canteen, but then she changed her mind. Ignoring Kocha, who was explaining something to him, she walked back to the Doctor and hugged him. It wasn't so much that she needed to, it was him. He'd encouraged her all the time and she figured that even the Time Lord himself needed some encouragement from time to time.

"Good luck and thank you for tonight," she wispered into his ear. He smiled, she could hear it.

"Good luck to you too. Work well," he answered. He was holding her tightly, way more tightly than she anticipated. When he finally let her go, she felt cold, like when you walk away from a campfire. Except now the fire walked away from her following a fire-coloured monkey and all she could do was watch and walk the other way.

DW## DW##

Apparently all aliens knew how to make stew. The dining hall looked a lot like a high school canteen. But instead of students there were aliens, about thirty of Gallorians and a specimen of an unknown species. So she and the Doctor weren't the only visitors. The room smelled funny and the food smelled terrible. With a plate full of dark blue goo she got from a Gallorian lunch lady Rose sat down at one of the empty tables. The aliens were still chatting, but some of them were eying her suspiciously. A group on the other side of the hall was actually openly staring at her. It was high school all over again. It gave her a glimmer of hope, though, to see the Gallorians talking to a foreign alien so openly. Trying her best to ignore them she started eating, more like mindlessly taking the stew into her mouth and swallowing it without tasting. It wasn't so bad. It tasted a little bit like baked bananas.

Rose was just about to put the final spoon into her mouth when a large bell-like device chimed. All the aliens suddenly fell silent, stood up and left the building in an orderly fashion. Apparently it marked the beginning of a work. Rose quickly took her plate to a pile by the exit and followed the aliens. They scattered into groups of three and aliened with the rows of crops.

Rose followed a pair of Gallorians that seemed to be alone to the far side of the field. They'd only noticed her when she stopped beside them. Neither of them seemed particularly friendly. In fact they seemed annoyed by her presence.

"Hello, I'm Rose," greeted Rose as politely as she could. "So, what do we do here?" she asked after she'd figured that she won't be greeted back.

"Your shovel get and work!" shouted one of the Gallorians. The other murmured something under his breath and they both laughed. Rose was getting really irritated but decided to ignore them. She's been bullied before. The aliens turned away from the field and walked into one of the small sheds at the edge of the field. Rose followed them.

Inside was a row of tools the TARDIS translated as "shovels". Well, they looked a little bit like shovels, except that they didn't have a handle. Instead, there was just a little stump. She took one in her hands and carried it to the field. In her mind she tried to figure out what to do with it. Some of the others started working then. First they positioned the shovel on the ground, then they pushed the shovel into the soil with their feet. They stepped on the stump then, so the soil rose. They moved the shovel by kicking it forward and repeated the process. They were only using their feet, except for the foreign alien, who used his tail.

For a few moments Rose just stood there, on the edge of the field, not knowing what to do. She saw some workers glancing at her, some angry, some just curiously, but none of them stopped working. Rose was getting tired of their hateful looks. This clearly wasn't an immigrant-friendly planet.

The two Gallorians on her lane already started working and they were working fast, but were still a few meters behind the rest of the groups. One of the two called out then: "To work get, new guy!" She looked around not sure if he was talking to her, but there was no one else around. Well, of course aliens wouldn't know how to separate between genders of other species. Maybe they would treat her differently if they knew she was a girl.

"I'm female," Rose corrected. The alien stopped working for a moment and gazed angrily at her. He looked like he was losing patience. Without another word Rose stepped in front of the Gallorians, the shovel in her right hand. She put the shovel down and tried to push it into the soil using her foot, but the shovel just kept sliding forwards on the ground.

"You have to use your toes," said the nicer alien exasperatedly. It took Rose a moment to understan what seemed wrong. The Gallorian was talking normally. TARDIS must've picked up on the pattern, thought Rose. Good old phonebox. Realisation that she wasn't alone, not even now, that the TARDIS was with her warmed her heart.

"You're not even working!" exclaimed the alien again, pulling Rose out of her thoughts. She tried to push the shovel in again but failed. She doubted her feet would be agile enough to operate the shovel, so she finally gave up and crouched down to use her hands. Brownish orange soil raised around her feet. She felt a strangely strong feeling of satisfaction.

By then she was quite a few meters behind her two co-workers. She walked past them and crouched down again, repeating the process. It wasn't so hard, but she had more than four and a half hours to go. And she couldn't even see the end of the row. The fields here were truly vast.

With a sigh she continued. Move. Crouch. Push in. Push up. Rise. Move. And as hard as she was working, she still couldn't go as fast as the Gallorians. Rose hated this. She was all for work and common good, but they could've given her a more appropriate job. In her anger and self-pity the time passed by.

When she looked around after a while, she realised they were almost on half a length of the row. Her hands were bruised and dirty and so were her trousers on one knee from when the rude Gallorian pushed her down when she was crouching. And her back hurt like hell. Yet, she kept working.

At once everybody stopped still, standing upright. Rose followed their example not knowing what's going on. There was only one person moving and that was a Gallorian holding a silvery metal cube in his left hand. And he was walking right towards her. He walked in a royal way; you could know he was important just by looking at him. When he approached her, he held out his hand with the cube as if he were offering it to her. Slowly and unsurely Rose took the cube and held it, afraid she might make it dirty.

"By taking the Silver Matter you declare your well-intent concerning your stay in the Empire of Gallor. Should this promise be broken you are to be judged and punished according to the law of the Emipire," recited the Gallorian who brought the cube. Before Rose could react in any way, he took the cube back and left in the same cocky way he came.

Everybody turned back to work then, leaving Rose to try her best to catch up with the rest. The second half of the work passed much faster than the first. Rose's fingers were getting used to the cold and rawness of the shovel and her back didn't even ache anymore, but there was one worse thing yet. The sun didn't seem to have moved at all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

**Author's Note:** Hello again! In this chapter I decided to dig a bit into Rose's backstory. I hope it doesn't cotradict the show. And I realize Rose may be a little OOC in this chapter, but the kind of axiety attack I'm trying to describe here can happen to anyone. Hope you enjoy!

"So, how was work?" asked the Doctor as Rose stumbled through the opening of their tree-house. The question took her aback. It sounded like something a man would ask his wife.

The Doctor was leaning back in one of the sits with his legs propped up on the table and only one side of the sit touched the ground. It looked very unstable.

"Oh, it was awful," answered Rose awkwardly sitting down on the bed. She's thought about not telling the truth but decided against it. She was pretty sure the Doctor would see through it.

He immediately stopped smiling and asked her: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, it's just really hard work, because the shovels aren't really shovels and I think the Gallorians hate me," answered Rose smiling reassuringly. The Doctor took his feet off the table then and sat next to her on the bed.

"Heeey," he said as he put his arms around her shoulders. "Nobody could hate you," said the Doctor. But that only made Rose more upset. It didn't mean anything, did it? He would've said that to anyone, that's just the kind of person he was.

"No, Doctor, nobody could hate **you**. You're the fun one, the smart one, the one that saves the day. You're the hero. I'm the sidekick, your companion, the one that asks the questions and gets in trouble. They don't have to like me, because I give them nothing. You came here and became a doctor. I became a farmer. And a poor one at that." Rose's voice wasn't raised, more sad; she didn't mean to judge, she just wanted to make the Doctor understand that the way everybody treats him is not necessary how they treat everybody around him. But he took it differently. There was sadness in his eyes and a glimpse of anger. The Doctor rarely used that look. It was reserved for the times he had to resort to violence, but then there was much more anger and now it was mostly sadness. Rose couldn't hold his stare so she leaned onto the Doctor so that her head lied on his shoulder.

"Don't think like that. I'm not a hero and you're not a sidekick. I'm a traveller and you're a signpost. I'd be lost without you," he said slowly stroking Rose's hair, the way mothers do when they try to calm their children down. It was so soothing she would've fallen asleep if she weren't completely aware of her closeness to the Doctor. She felt every bit of her body that was touching his the way a blind man might feel every dot of Braille for itself before connecting them to make sense of the letters. Her mind was confused trying to focus on the Doctor's words as if that would help, but all she heard was his voice synching perfectly with the vibrations his speech was sending through her. On the other hand her body wasn't confused at all. It reacted as a body might, independent from the mind and even the heart.

She moved away from the Doctor much to his surprise but didn't say anything as her mouth was completely dry. For a while he didn't say anything either, but it wasn't awkward. They were talking with their eyes again. It became almost as easy as actually talking. Her eyes were telling him that she understood and something else Rose hoped the Doctor wouldn't understand. And his eyes were just earnest, never blinking, like a pathway into his hearts. They were telling her he felt what he said. But she had to blink sometime.

"Lie down for a while," the Doctor said then and stood up leaving Rose alone on the bed. She kicked her shoes off and finally stretched her back. She was tiered and more that capable to sleep with the window open. When she woke up, the Doctor was gone as she'd expected. She had no idea how long she was out; we have to get a clock, she wrote a mental note. And outside the sun was still about where it was before.

Without a reason Rose decided to go for a stroll. Outside she took a good look at their tree house. You couldn't miss it, the bottom hole was almost twice the normal size. On her left was what appeared to be the main square and on her right were a few houses and the vast fields. She realised then that the ground was truly level; she couldn't see one hill, not even on the horizon.

Rose turned left towards the square. Gallorians paid very little attention to her for which she was thankful. They were busy hovering around the clay buildings that encircled the square. They were different from the ones the Gallorians lived in; they were mostly wider and lower, but still circular with wide entrances so the inside could be seen from afar. Some of them even looked like big brown red igloos and only a few were rectangular or elliptic. And inside she could see everything from shops to what seemed to be administration offices. Rose noticed then that all of the buildings had signs that the TARDIS had translated: Fish market, Sweets from Far Away, Education, Gallorians for rent, Job market. That one caught her attention.

Inside was empty except for a bored Gallorian sitting behind a stone block that was supposed to work as a desk. Rose gulped and slowly walked inside. The Gallorian official looked at her with nothing but boredom.

"We're closed!" he called out, clearly expecting her to turn around and leave. When she stopped in front of the desk he looked at her, this time with great annoyance.

"You can't be closed," said Rose. "You work here." The Gallorian just repeated: "We're closed." Rose gave up trying to make sense of that. Instead she asked: "Why?" The Gallorian figured she had no idea what was going on.

"Because of the new law. Chief Galla banned all job changes. You do what he tells you to do and be thankful for he has brought a blessing on our land." The last part sounds like something learned from a textbook.

What he said didn't really take Rose by surprise. She suspected something like that. Still, she was disappointed.

"What are you doing here then?" she asked.

"Guarding the documents," he said and pointed at a pile of clay tablets behind him. Rose nodded and left. So farming it is then. Better make a career of it.

She left the square. She needed the privacy of her home, no matter how limited it was. And the Doctor should've been back. But when she climbed inside and called out twice, nobody appeared to be in. The ever burning torches were giving away an uneven light and the sun was still bright, but the room was very dim at the back of the apartment, where the desk was. She never noticed it before. Once this dimness would've seemed peaceful for her, but now it just made her anxious. Seriously anxious. She knew her fear wasn't rational and everything in her tried to fight against it.

She lay down on the bed hoping to fall asleep quickly. But of course she didn't. To occupy her mind she recounted her life trying to remember all the good moments. She didn't focus on the Doctor really. More on her life before then.

She thought of her mother and of all the meals they had together, just the two of them. Rose would stop by the little private fast food place to get dinner and then they would eat together, her mother talking all the time, mostly about unimportant things and then they would watch some TV and her mother would comment and make her laugh. It seemed like yesterday this was her every day. She thought of the time she brought home a stray kitty she'd found on the way from school. She wanted to keep it, but Jackie insisted of getting rid of her. When Rose started to cry, Jackie took the kitty and gave it to their neighbours. This way Rose could still see the kitty every day. Rose understood then why Jackie did that. Money had always been tight in their family. It was to be expected with a widowed single mother and a wild and adventurous little girl.

Which brought her to think about her father. She didn't even remember him except for the short time they spent together when she went back in time to the day he died. Formally she was two then. But she remembered his grave. Often she'd go there with her mum or, when she was older, by herself. His grave didn't bother her really. She liked it. It was her only link to her father, a small tombstone with his name: Peter Alan Tyler. There was always a bouquet of plastic flowers on his grave, but sometimes Rose would pick some fresh flowers on the gardens and put them in between the plastic ones. She thought the mix made the grave look pretty, but every time her mother came, she threw them away. A few days after Pete died another person was buried next to him. People used to call her Lady Smith. She was a lovely old lady, a retired seamstress, but Rose didn't know her. But she came to know her grandson.

She'd first seen him at the graveyard. He also brought flowers, but he always came with his father and he let him put flowers in the vase. They were always fresh and different. Rose thought of the long walks home from school with the boy, Mickey, and their conversations, different every day, like flowers on the grave. Sometimes he would stay at her house and they would play or study together. And once when she was thirteen he just kissed her. He ran home soon after that. It never happened again and they never spoke of it until Rose asked him out four years later. They broke up many times but always got back together. Rose remembered how Mickey sometimes pleaded her. He seemed pathetic at the time but after she left she's realised how sweet he actually was.

All this memories calmed her down. For a moment she forgot she's alone, lying on a bed on an alien planet and that in a few hours she has to go back to digging holes with a broken shovel. The Doctor came in then with a cheerful smile that disappeared the moment he saw the heap of sadness that was Rose. She was curled up into a ball, shivering slightly, her eyes wide open. It took her a while to grasp the reality of where she was, and when she did, the angst came back. But the Doctor was here now; he'll take care of it.

Rose quickly hugged him. "Where were you?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"At the Court," he answered quickly as if the answer weren't important. Rose remembered then. She was supposed to do two and a half hours of personal service at the Court.

"Oh, shit," she murmured. Forgetting everything about her breakdown she started for the entrance.

"Rose," said the Doctor still standing next to the bed. It was enough to stop her. "I did five hours." he continued.

Rose understood what he meant. He did her shift while she was sleeping. She should've seen it coming.

"You didn't have to do that," said Rose, though she knew he thought differently.

"No, I didn't have to. I did it to thank you. For being here with me. It's my fault we're stuck here, you shouldn't have to work too." he said softly, genuinely thanking her.

But there was one word that hit Rose hard.

"Wait, we're stuck here?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

**Author's note:** I'm so sorry, guys. It's been terrible of me to not update for so long, it's just that a lot has been going on in this last few months and I have my finals now (wish me luck) so don't expect an update anytime soon. I've been thinking a lot about where I might take this story and I have it pretty much figured out. So in this chapter the Doctor's opinion about particular a Gallorian group shifts a lot. I just thought about the way Doctor always introduced Time Lords as a great civilization until their flaws posed a threat. I think the Doctor will always see the best in any civilization/group/person, untill he cannot do that anymore. Just wanted to explain. Anyway, enjoy.

It didn't even beep. Rose's tried everything. Doors wouldn't open, windows wouldn't brake, no sound came from the big blue box. It was the loudest vehicle Rose has ever seen, yet now, when all she needed was a quiet beep, any sound, really, the TARDIS remained silent.

Rose sighed and turned to the Doctor, who was standing behind her. He was looking at her with regret in his eyes. He knew the TARDIS wouldn't open. He's tried it all before.

"How did this happen?" Rose asked. They weren't supposed to get stuck. Leaving was the last resort in case things got unbearable and it was gone now.

"I locked her," answered the Doctor. Rose was confused. She let her mind marvel at the possibility it was all just temporary.

"Well then, unlock her!" she yelled. In these brief few moments her mind couldn't grasp the core of the problem.

But then Doctor finally said it, the cruel reality: "I can't!"

Rose was expecting this answer. It didn't throw her off, it actually calmed her down. Because now she had nothing left, she's lost all hope. And it's kind of easy when you've got nothing, because nothing can't be taken away from you.

"Why?" she asked, no longer yelling.

"Because I set it to deadlock for three days as measured by position of the planet in the sun's orbit. Even I can't unlock it. Not without moving the sun," he explained, his voice dripping with regret. It was obvious he knew what a mistake he made. And Rose didn't doubt in his regret.

But there was one thing she couldn't understand. "Why would you put a deadlock on her? You know they can't get in without a key," she asked. She was genuinely curious.

The Doctor smiled as if trying to avoid the topic: "They can't do it with the key now either, can they?"

After seeing the joke had no effect on Rose, he decided to confess: "The travelling is too big a temptation for me. You know how you have to take candy away from a gluttonous child, because he would eat them even if he knew he mustn't?" Rose nodded, pretty sure she knew where he was going.

"Well, the travelling is my candy. I had to lock the TARDIS to disable myself from running away and leaving you behind. Because I might do that. I wouldn't want to, but I might," the Doctor explained.

Rose nodded: "I get it." It made no sense, but somehow she understood. The Doctor has been running his whole life. He never had to stay in one place for long; he could leave whenever he felt like it. He never had to force himself to stay somewhere. It was new for him, it must've been hard.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. You have to understand, I wouldn't have done it if I knew how primitive a civilisation Gallor was before Pische took the throne. I just wish it would've happened sooner," the Doctor started to apologize. To calm him down Rose stepped closer and hugged him. He hugged her back and things were good for a few seconds. Then they simultaneously pulled back.

"Come on, we have to get something to eat. The Chief gave me our first pay check," said the Doctor and pulled a pouch of coins out of his pocket. Rose smiled and took the pouch from his hand so she could take his hand into hers. Together they left the small abandoned tree house the Doctor parked the TARDIS in. They won't be coming back for a while, but in this moment they seemed okay with that.

DW##DW##

Rose soon learned not to question the food put in front of her. Whatever it was, however it tasted, the important thing is it was edible. She figured the mush they give her every day before work makes for a good energy source and the one they feed her afterwards is quite soothing for the stomach. The food the Doctor bought was usually sweeter, more of a snack. But everything she's tried so far smelled terrible.

"Is it any good?" asked the Doctor. She was munching what seemed like an energy bar.

"It's good, but smells like rubber," said Rose, her mouth full of the crunchy substance. The Doctor stepped closer, took himself a piece and tried it.

His expression remained thoughtful until he swallowed. He grinned then, happy with his choice of food: "It is good. So how was service today?"

Rose sighed. "Same as ever." Working was hard, but service was just terrible. There were about ten Gallorians always present to aid the Chief had he needed anything. And that included entertainment. Rose had to admit she had an easy job compared to the builders, fanners and massagers. But she felt bad doing what she had to. Her job was telling stories. The chief soon learned of her travels and wanted to know all about that. Telling him things that were so intimate to her made her stories seem unclean in her eyes. And slowly she was running out of them and was afraid what would happen if she did. She knew she could always make them up, but that just didn't feel right; she felt that if she told a made-up story it would somehow make it true. But then again she might just have to do so.

Once the Chief fell asleep during her story for half an hour and then demanded Rose stays half an hour longer, as during his sleep she "wasn't actually doing any service". It all reminded Rose of Scheherazade from Arabian Nights. But Rose frankly didn't have a thousand stories to tell.

Nevertheless, the Doctor thought differently. "Why don't you just tell him some of Earth's legends? You lot are one of the best story-tellers of the universe. I particularly love the one about Prometheus. He seems like a nice bloke," the Doctor suggested after hearing about her problem. Rose didn't like that idea. These stories were a part of her childhood, almost a holy thing to her.

Doctor's voice quickly brought her back into the present: "Was the Nice One there?"

Rose smiled. "Yeah, he was."

The Nice One. She didn't know his name, yet he was the only good thing about the service. Out of all Gallorians he was the only one actually nice to her. Whenever the Chief started to get too personal with Rose, the Nice One jumped right in with some kind of offer or question to save Rose from having to answer. That meant a lot to her. Mostly it gave her hope.

The Doctor was thinking the same: "See they are not all bad," he smiled and took the last piece of the energy bar.

"I'm gonna go to the temple now. Get some sleep. There's a town party in the evening," said the Doctor and winked before leaving.

A while ago the Doctor and Rose left for service together and when they came back there was an apparently homeless Gallorian lying in their bed. The Doctor wanted him to stay, but the impostor rejected. He apologized for crashing; he thought the apartment was empty. He warned them to never leave it unprotected since they were located in quite an unsafe neighbourhood. The Gallorian didn't take anything, but others may not be as kind. Doctor shifted his service after Rose's then, just in case.

Tired from long day of work and service Rose lay down. She usually used this time to prepare a new story for the Chief, but she always fell asleep before she finished. She got used to the never changing light now and had no trouble falling asleep. It was actually kind of soothing to know that whenever she opens her eyes, things will look exactly the same as they did when she'd closed them.

DW##DW##

Large glowing stones stood randomly throughout the crowd. Their edges were sharp and their glow pale blue; they seemed like blue bonfires, though they were pieces of a naturally luminescent metal or so the Doctor figured after a close examination. It was a quite efficient public illumination.

The crowd was enormous; everybody was invited and it seemed everybody has come. Rose saw a figure step onto a dais not far from her. The chatter subsided and it was only then that Rose realized that everybody was talking.

"Welcome, my fellow Gallorians, my kin!" solemnly called the Chief. His voice was even more filled with pride than usually.

"We've gathered here to celebrate thirty days anniversary of unionisation of Gallor. There have been eight clans and now there is but one - Gallor united!"

The crowd repeated the slogan with fierceness that remained Rose of rebellious farmers she's seen in history textbooks. But Rose noticed another thing: besides herself and the Doctor there was a group of Gallorians that remained salient and even hissed at the Chief when the clamour subsided.

The Chief didn't seem bothered though. He went on about how great unionisation was and the hissing group of Gallorians was growing visibly inpatient.

"As the Chief of our clan I represent it in the Council of Gallor," continued Chief Galla. "On our last meeting a decision has been made. A decision that will undoubtedly not please everyone. Those who are suspected to be working against our system will be cut from work."

For a second it seemed like silence fell over the crowd, but in the next moment the booing started. Well, not booing exactly, more like loud unpleasant grunts that couldn't even be phonetically written. Rose realized it came from many smaller groups of Gallorians stationed all throughout the crowd, including the group on Rose's right. She analyzed their faces - anger and fear, but mostly despair. The rest of Gallorians looked at the groups with hate and moved further away from them. The way they usually looked at her was nothing compared to this one. Rose imidiately felt sorry for the booing Gallorians.

The Chief raised his voice so people could hear him over the noise: "You all know what that means. If you don't work, you don't give to the community and community won't give to you. You'll be cut off food. You will keep the right to beg though, living off the goodwill of the people."

One of the Gallorians called out: "You can't do this to us! People won't give us food. We will starve! You're a killer!"

To her surprise Rose recognized the voice. It was the Nice One.

Chief didn't even flinch at the accusation and finished the session: "That is our final decision. You're jobs may be returned to you when the revolutionary spirit leaves our society."

He stepped off the dais and left through the crowd. Faces of the rebellious Gallorians were all despair now, some were even crying. Rose's heart broke.

DW##DW##

"What's going on?" asked Rose on their way home.

"Well, unionisation doesn't seem to suite everyone and those who oppose it have to be eliminated. It's a regime protecting itself. Or rather the Chief protecting it. This actually happened quite a lot in your history too." answered the Doctor.

Rose nodded: "I get that. It's just that the revolutionaries seem so much nicer than the rest."

The Doctor smiled and took Rose's hand: "Sometimes it's people who don't obey the rules that have the purest heart. That's why I chose you."

Rose felt a surge of heat wave through her. Not the heat of embarrassment or the heat of passion, more like a warm fuzzy feeling of being loved.

She looked at the Doctor: "Thank you. For choosing me."

She's never told him that, but she always felt it, the dullness of her life without him. The Doctor smiled into one of his wide smiles Rose loved so much.

"It's my privilege." They've stopped on their way and were now standing in the middle of the street, staring at each other. Rose had a strange feeling like the Doctor was about to lean in for a kiss, but in the next moment he started walking forward, tugging Rose along. He was still smiling though, completely oblivious to the flush on Rose's cheeks. Rose felt a small tang of regret for not seizing the opportunity.

"So what do we do?" she asked after a while. They were nearing their flat now.

"About what?" replied Doctor, seemingly completely baffled by her question.

"The revolution and what-not," Rose answered, equally baffled by Doctor's bafflement. "The way Chief is treating those who oppose him. It's not right."

The Doctor's smile left him. "Ahh, things are rarely what they seem," he explained in a completely casual voice. It made Rose stop. Things didn't seem quite right.

"Really? We're stuck here and you're not even going to help people on the way?" she asked, her voice stuck between anger and disbelief.

"Exactly, we're stuck here. If we weren't, we'd be long gone by now!" The Doctor didn't raise his voice, but there was enough irritation in it to let Rose know he doesn't want to elaborate further. And that something is definitely wrong. She didn't push it though. The Doctor cooled down by the time they entered their humble room. Taking Rose by surprise, he took of his white Converse shoes and lay onto the bed. Rose knew he wouldn't sleep; he probably just wanted a place to think.

Carefully Rose lay down next to him. She decided to let him mourn in silence if he doesn't want to speak. When she was already half asleep, he actually started talking.

"They're not good people, Rose," he said.

It took Rose a few moments to understand. "The revolutionaries?" she asked.

"Yes. I know who they are. Chief Pische and his army. What we just witnessed is a historical moment. Taking their jobs away; it pushes them into a frenzy. They'll start the revolution, overthrow the rule. And then they will rule with a just, but iron fist. The first thing they'll do is cleanse the clan, get rid of all the foreigners. Members of different clans and visitors from foreign planets. It's kind of understandable they wouldn't want to take chances after what just happened. It's a start of their golden era and it's going to be bloody." The Doctor made a pause to let the words sink in.

Blood roared in Rose's ears when she grasped what that meant for them and her heartbeat quickened as if someone just told her a scary campfire story.

The Doctor mirrored her thoughts: "We have to get out of here."

DW##DW##

No matter how much Rose kept repeating what she knew, it always broke her heart. She thought the "no job" rule applied to ten, maybe twenty people, but there seemed to be a lot more. Just over the small distance of 500m she covered on her way to work she's seen eight of them, just sitting on the ground, begging passer-bys for pieces of food.

Rose discussed this matter with the Doctor. She argued that they might be more merciful if they'd help them and he agreed though he doubted it would make any difference. The thing was that Rose and the Doctor themselves struggled with money and just couldn't help everybody.

"Rose! Rose!" someone called then, startling her. She turned around and recognised the Nice One. He was sitting on the side of the crossroads. Without thinking she stepped closer earning wary looks from passing Gallorians.

"You know this is unjust, right?" the Nice One continued.

Rose cringed, aware of Gallorians watching her. "Don't make me answer that," she whispered, shaking her head. Leaning down she took some change from her coat and dropped it into his open palm.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed. "The Pische bloodline will repay you!"

Rose, being already on her way, turned abruptly and asked: "What did you say?"

The Nice One, afraid he'd done something wrong, repeated: "I just said we will repay you. As a sign of gratitude."

Rose crouched next to him and took a deep breath. "What's your name?" she asked

"Kal Pische, ma'am," he replied fearfully.

"You're the leader of the revolution," Rose gasped.

"So they made me, yes," he said, a hint of shame in his voice. "But it's not going so well now."

Rose swallowed hard: "I'm sorry, I have to go." She stood up and ran back in the direction of her flat.


End file.
